Dear colleagues,
Today, after more than 20 years of proprietary licensing, Webots has become 100% free open source software, released under the terms of the Apache 2.0 license.
Binary packages: [https://cyberbotics.com](https://cyberbotics.com)
Source code (GitHub): [https://github.com/omichel/webots](https://github.com/omichel/webots)
Announcement: [https://cyberbotics.com/doc/blog/Webots-2019-a-release](https://cyberbotics.com/doc/blog/Webots-2019-a-release)
Video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7U3sX_ubGc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7U3sX_ubGc)
Webots is a well known robot simulator that has been continuously developed, documented, tested and used over the past 22 years and featuring a nice ROS interface on Linux, macOS and Windows. Becoming 100% free open source software, Webots is expected to be more widely adopted by the robotics research community. This will translate into more projects and more contributions: robot models, objects, environments, interfaces, controller example, tutorials, lectures, bug fixes, new features, etc.
Our business will continue to rely on Webots as we will provide the following paid services to the growing base of Webots users:
* Webots Premier Service: yearly subscription to a first class user support hotline.
* Consulting Services: custom development hours for Webots users.
* Hosting online simulations, similar to [robotbenchmark.net](https://robotbenchmark.net).
* Industrial Projects: customization of the Webots software for industrial customers.
* Research Projects: participation in research projects (including EU research projects).
We would like to thank our loyal Webots customers. The licenses fees they have paid regularly have contributed to the development and quality of this software. Without them, Webots would never have become what it is today. We will be very happy to be able to continue to support all Webots users, and to collaborate closely on specific projects.
Have a think about it, and if you see any opportunity enabled by this licensing change, please contact me directly.
Best regards,
-Olivier Michel
Cyberbotics Ltd., founder & CEO
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